Shingles Vaccine Info

If you're 50-ish, you're probably thinking about a shingles vaccine. I strongly recommend this due to having seen shingles tear up a couple of guys. One got it in his arms and it messed his hand nerves up to the point he couldn't shuffle or deal cards anymore, let alone work his fly or wipe his butt. The other got it in the eyeballs and is essentially blind now. Not wanting that sort of thing to happen to me, I got the vaccine as soon as I came of age recently.

In case you don't know, there's a new type of vaccine out called Shingrix which is a replacement for the old Zoster. Doctors recommend you get the Shingrix even if you've already had the Zoster before, due to Shingrix supposedly being considerably more effective (over 90%) and even if you still get shingles anyway, it'll supposedly be much milder than without.

Shingrix is a 2-part thing; you take the 2nd shot about 2 months after the 1st. There's a run on it right now so you often have to get on a waiting list. Thus, if you're thinking about doing this, call your doc today so you can get in line.

You have a pretty good chance of getting some side effects. This is to be expected as the shots have to stir up your immune system, so you're likely to get some sort of immune system response like fever. Fortunately, this doesn't last long. The shots are slightly uncomfortable, not quite as viscous as peanut butter but definitely thicker than water, and the injection site feels bruised for a couple days. As to other effects, in my own case, both times I got the shots about noon and they woke me up about 15 hours later, around 0300 that night with chills, fever, headache, and flu-like body aches. When I got the 1st shot, I felt like complete crap until about 1500 the next afternoon, so about 12 hours of misery. I got the 2nd shot yesterday and it's 0800 my time now, and I feel like crap, especially as I've been mostly awake since 0300. I'll soon be going back to bed but expect to feel better by 1500.

So, when you get called that it's finally your turn to get the shot, be sure to arrange your work schedule so you can afford to miss the next day of work. And be prepared to spend the next day in bed. But hey, I'll trade 2 days of feeling horrible to to avoid risking my hand nerves and eyeballs. They say 1 in 3 folks get shingles and that's way better odds than winning a hand of poker, so it's not a chance I want to take.

I can't recommend it enough. Having seen what shingles can do, I want no part of it and a couple of days feeling like total shit is a good trade in my book. Even if i wouldn't have gotten shingles anyway, 2 days sick at home is still better than 2 days at work. And if I get shingles anyway, I'll supposedly be better off for having done this. We'll see. But I went for the better odds.

Besides, health insurance usually totally pays for prevention and only fights you on cures, so it's probably nothing out of pocket to do it. And if your insurance knows you got the shots, they'll be more lenient if you actually have problems later.

You really should check your records and get any vaccines you don't have. First, the older you get, the weaker your immune system becomes, so you're more likely to catch something. And it will be worse when you do. Stuff that's relatively harmless if you get it as a kid can kill or maim adults. Second, if you get something, you can spread it to others, which is a bad thing. IMHO, it's pretty irresponsible not to get all your vaccines for that reason alone, let alone your own health.

If you've never had chicken pox, you can get it from someone who has a current case of shingles, which is the chicken pox virus. And chicken pox is more severe in adults. Also, you can get shingles multiple times as well.

I had a bad case of shingles towards the end of my chemo regimen (for cancer) about 13 years ago. It was centered on the right side of my back (It's always on just one side, I think). I was given Prednisone to prevent permanent damage to my nerve endings. It wasn't a pleasant experience.